I absolutely love modified hand tools. The sort of things that someone has made or changed to do a very specific piece of work. So feast your eyes on this little beauty. Today I’ve enjoyed some tim…| What's the PONT
Robert Lawrence Kuhn, creator and host of the renowned documentary series "Closer to Truth," has undertaken the monumental task of mapping 325+ scientific theories of consciousness, organising them into ten categories—from materialist accounts to quantum approaches, from Integrated Information Theory to panpsychism and all different forms of idealisms, amongst which Analytic Idealism. In this conversation, Hans Busstra talks to Kuhn about the categories of his map and the metaphysical commi...| Essentia Foundation
In this interview, Dr. David Acunzo, from the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia, talks with Natalia Vorontsova about his experimental research on hypnosis and anomalous psi phenomena. Dr. Acunzo stresses the importance of the scientific study of anomalous phenomena, which are largely ignored by mainstream science. He exemplifies true open-mindedness in science, demonstrating that one need not be a psi "believer," but rather a rigorous researcher searching for answer...| Essentia Foundation
Hans Busstra and Dr. Lídia del Rio talk to Dr. Matthew Leifer, Assistant Professor of Physics at Chapman University, about the epistemic interpretation of quantum mechanics. Classically, when physicists call themselves ‘realists’ they mean that we should assume that a physical, observer-independent universe is fundamental. But if this counts as realism, anti-realism is perhaps the more respectable position. Leifer points, for instance, to ‘Bell-Wigner mashups’: thought-experiments th...| Essentia Foundation
In this interview, Dr. Philip Cozzolino, an associate professor of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences at the University of Virginia, talks with Natalia Vorontsova about his research results and methods for dealing with the fear of death. He also delves into intriguing reincarnation-like cases and past-life memories in children, as well as the metaphysical implications of his research.| Essentia Foundation
When does a Desire Path become a path of necessity? Not just something you choose for convenience. This is a thinly disguised attempt to share the fact that I’ve been walking along a bit of the Camino de Santiago. I’ve been told I’ve become the opposite of one of the characters in the film Fight […]| What's the PONT
Here a few things that appear along the Camino that made me pause. Nothing particularly deep and meaningful here. Mostly just weird stuff that appeals to my sense of curiosity. Be Quiet! Listen. A small chalk board fixed about 3m up in a tree. Somewhere in the Beechwood’s around Fontaine de Roland (I think). It […]| What's the PONT
4 A Day Picture Diary – Day 7. Pamplona. Where. The gateway into the old part of Pamplona. This gate will feature in the pictures, vlogs etc of 1000’s of Peregrinos. A picture really does speak a thousand words. It is an incredibly welcoming sight. What? No longer walking because we have to. Hurrahhh It […]| What's the PONT
Zubiri to Pamplona. What? This is supposed to be a relief after the challenges of the Pyrenees. It’s flatter, and slightly less distance, but it was hot. 33 degrees Celsius by the time into Pamplona. The picture of SB trudging purposefully past some hay bales captures the vibe. Where? Iglesia de San Esteban. A perfect […]| What's the PONT
4 A Day Picture Diary Where? Roncesvalles to Zubiri. A journey down through the foothills of the Pyrenees. A combination of delightful woodland paths, farmland and a horrible descent over broken bedrock down into Zubiri. What? Here’s a picture of one of the broken rock paths. Some of the chatter talks about it being an […]| What's the PONT
Dr. David Schmid, Dr. Lídia Del Rio and Hans Busstra explore a metaphysical shift that’s happening in the foundations of physics: the wave function is no longer regarded as something real, but just as a description of what we know about the world. In philosophical terms: the wave function is not ontic, but epistemic. And in more popular terms: the multiverse is science fiction, resting on a too-literal interpretation of a piece of mathematics called the Schrödinger equation.| Essentia Foundation
Hans Busstra talks to Dr. Bernardo Kastrup about the groundbreaking work of Professor Michael Levin and Dr. Christof Koch. Levin’s research into bio-electric fields reveals that cellular networks use electrical signals not just for immediate physiological tasks, but to coordinate complex patterning and memory across tissues—suggesting a kind of distributed intelligence in living systems. Christof Koch, meanwhile, champions Integrated Information Theory (IIT), which proposes that conscious...| Essentia Foundation
Dr. Edward Kelly, a professor of experimental psychology, talks about his many years of study of a variety of psi and anomalous phenomena. In this interview with Natalia Vorontsova, he candidly shares how phenomenological evidence has led him to re-examine his metaphysical views on the nature of reality. Are our minds confined to our brains? Do we survive our biological death? Is mind primary to matter? Why should we take anomalous phenomena seriously? These are some of the topics covered in ...| Essentia Foundation
Physicist Dr. Lídia Del Rio, Essentia Foundation’s Research Fellow for Quantum Information Theory at the University of Zürich, explains to Hans Busstra one of the strangest quantum conundra confronting the foundations of physics: the Frauchiger-Renner (FR) thought experiment.| Essentia Foundation
Hans Busstra interviews theoretical physicist and complexity scientist James Glattfelder on his new book: 'The Sapient Cosmos: What a modern-day synthesis of science and philosophy teaches us about the emergence of information, consciousness, and meaning,' published by Essentia Foundation. Glattfelder makes a plea for ‘syncretic idealism’: a worldview that synthesises ancient idealist texts and mystical experiences with physics, complexity science and analytic idealism.| Essentia Foundation
This interview explores the fundamental premises of Analytic Idealism. Dr. Bernardo Kastrup, known for developing this philosophical system, discusses the nature of consciousness, life, God, and AI with Natalia Vorontsova. All questions are based on input from our audience.| Essentia Foundation
Hans Busstra, together with Essentia Foundation's research fellow, physicist Lidia Del Rio, talks to Prof. Sandu Popescu about quantum non-locality. Popescu is Professor of Physics at the University of Bristol and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He did pioneering work in what became the field of quantum information and has won both the John Stuart Bell Prize and the Dirac Medal.| Essentia Foundation
'Talking' to cells without influencing genes or molecules: it can be done by influencing bioelectric fields. By manipulating the bioelectric fields in organisms like planaria and tadpoles, Prof. Michael Levin has shown how eyes and other organs can grow in unconventional locations, how planaria can be ‘told’ to grow two heads, and perhaps most importantly: how cancer cells can be ‘told’ to stop growing in frogs. These promising experiments might lead to groundbreaking new therapeutics...| Essentia Foundation
Inside you there is a largely unexplored universe of 100 trillion bacteria. In this documentary, we embark on a journey into this microcosmos to discover the beauty and complexity of life's origin on the nanoscale. In 2023 Essentia Foundation's Hans Busstra created a documentary about bacteria that depicts our common ancestor in a never-before-seen manner. With the world’s leading artists in microscopy, like micro-photographer Wim van Egmond, SEM microscopist Jan Dijksterhuis, and a molecul...| Essentia Foundation
Hans Busstra sat down with John Vervaeke to discuss the meaning crisis, the Zombie myth we’re in, and how it all relates to what Vervaeke calls "rabbit hole metaphysics": the conspiratorial, outlandish and often absurd ideas people start believing in, in search of meaning. A characteristic of rabbit hole types of metaphysics is that they have a ‘thick’ description of reality: a constellation of ungrounded assumptions build up to a ‘once you get this, there’s no way back’ narrative...| Essentia Foundation
Two giants of science and technology—Nobel Laureate in physics, Sir Roger Penrose, and inventor of the microprocessor, Federico Faggin—meet to discuss their ideas on the relationship between Quantum Physics and consciousness, with the special participation of our own Bernardo Kastrup. While always respectful and congenial, the participants don't shy away from disagreements. Their starting difference regards Quantum Theory itself: while Federico Faggin and Bernardo Kastrup allow its implic...| Essentia Foundation
What if your child could feel their friend's headache in their own head? Would you be able to explain where the boundaries of self begin and end? Or how would you react if your child experienced 'loving darkness' during an NDE? Natalia Vorontsova explored these and other fundamental questions about the nature of reality, consciousness, and science with a researcher of children's transpersonal and extrasensory experiences, Dr. Donna Thomas.| Essentia Foundation
